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thedrifter
12-10-06, 07:12 AM
Rumsfeld on surprise goodbye visit to Iraq
Iraq-USA, Politics, 12/9/2006

US Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld paid a surprise visit to Iraq today to thank service members for their dedication, sacrifices and patriotism.

He spoke to more than 1,200 soldiers and Marines at this sprawling air base in Anbar province. Rumsfeld will leave his office Dec. 18, when Defense Secretary designee Robert Gates takes his place.

“For the past six years, I have had the opportunity and, I would say the privilege, to serve with the greatest military on the face of the Earth," Rumsfeld said. “I leave understanding that the true strength of the United States military is not in Washington, it’s not in the Pentagon, it’s not in the weapons. It’s in the hearts of the men and women who serve. It’s your patriotism, it’s your professionalism and indeed your determination."

He spoke about a young man he met at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Washington. The young man, who was recovering from wounds suffered in Iraq, told the secretary, “If the American people will only give us the time, we can do it. We’re getting the job done."

“I believe him. I know he’s right," Rumsfeld said. “We feel great urgency to protect the American people from another 9/11 or a 9/11 times two or three. At the same time, we need to have the patience to see this task through to success. The consequences of failure are unacceptable."

The enemy threatens all Americans hold dear and does not want people to have freedom to worship, speak, read or even think, Rumsfeld said. “The enemy must be defeated," he said. “Gen. (John) Abizaid (U.S. Central Command chief) said, ‘We can certainly walk away from this enemy, but they will not walk away from us.'"

Taking on the enemy in Iraq Afghanistan, and other areas of the world where he looks for succor, is the right plan, Rumsfeld said.

American service members are doing just that and making a difference to millions of people around the world, he said. "There’s not been a day since our country has been involved in this long struggle that I have not thought of those of you deployed around the world in foreign posts and battlefields, far from home, far from your friends and your loved ones," he said. "I wish it were possible for every American to see first hand – even a glimpse – of all you do everyday. The lives you touch and the lives you save.

“I never cease to be amazed at the courage and resiliency of not only the troops, but of your families as well. You have undergone hardships and endured sacrifices, yet I always leave my meetings with the troops and your families with my feelings lifted – inspired by your hope, your determination and your unfailing good humor."

The secretary pointed out that the highest reenlistment rates in all the services are found among those soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who are serving in combat. He said this speaks volumes about service members' character and commitment. “It tells us other things as well – that the men and women in uniform believe in what they are doing, they know it’s important, they know it’s worth the cost and in some cases the tears," he said. “And they are convinced they can succeed and that our country can prevail. But only if we don’t lose our will."

Rumsfeld told the service members they serve a nation that is the greatest force for good the world has ever known. “America is not what’s wrong with the world," he said. “Violent extremists – those who kill innocent men, women and children – they are what is wrong with this world."

He said the campaign against terrorism is the most complex and difficult on record and the struggle is unlike any other campaign the United States has fought in. The war on terror will be more like the Cold War – a 50-year sustained effort against an ideology – than World War II – a conflict that pitted armies and navies and air forces against one another, he said.

“Because this conflict is new and unfamiliar and complex, it is understandable that there will be differences about the direction our country should take," he said. “These public debates may be heated or even nasty. But that’s not new … I can say that it has always been so, and particularly so during wartime.

“But we ought not confuse the political debate that takes place at home with a wavering of support or appreciation for your service or your achievements," he continued.

The American people have a good center of gravity, the secretary said. Elections and polls may tilt one way or another, but over time free people given sufficient information find their way to right decisions, he said.

The secretary told the service members that history will show that after America was attacked, hundreds of thousands of young men and women stepped forward to wear their nation’s uniform. “(These were) talented young people who could have done something else – something easier, something safer," he said. “But instead they volunteered to defend our country.

“You are those men and women," he continued. “You are the ones who took up the fight against the extremists far from home to prevent them from attacking our families, friends, neighbors and fellow citizens. For your service, your sacrifice and for the professionalism and the dedication you demonstrate every day, you have my profound admiration and my deep and everlasting respect.

“It has been the honor of my life to serve with you, and I will never forget it; I will treasure it always."

Ellie

thedrifter
12-11-06, 06:55 AM
On Iraq visit, Rumsfeld thanks 'greatest military'
He bids farewell to US troops

By Kim Gamel, Associated Press | December 11, 2006

BAGHDAD -- Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld, with only days left in office, returned to Washington last night from a surprise farewell visit to US troops in Iraq this weekend, in which he told them the consequences of the war's failure would be "unacceptable."

Rumsfeld made the trip as war policies he helped create are under scrutiny and as sectarian violence raged on the streets of Baghdad, with a new outburst of retaliatory attacks and clashes between Shi'ites and Sunnis.

At least 83 people were killed or found dead throughout the country, including 59 bullet- riddled bodies that turned up throughout the capital.

A roadside bomb also killed one US soldier and wounded another yesterday west of Baghdad, the military said.

The death raised to 43 the number of troops who have died this month and pushed the total US military death toll to 2,931 since the war started nearly four years ago.

Rumsfeld, casually dressed in a gray jacket and an open-collar shirt, traveled to several US bases in the country, shaking hands and joking with troops.

"For the past six years, I have had the opportunity and, I would say, the privilege, to serve with the greatest military on the face of the Earth," Rumsfeld, 74, told more than 1,200 soldiers and Marines at Asad, a sprawling air base in western Anbar Province, an insurgent stronghold.

Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman declined to discuss Rumsfeld's itinerary or schedule .

"He wants to keep the focus on the troops" and has not scheduled official meetings with US commanders, although he is seeing them during his stops, Whitman said.

Last week, a US bipartisan commission said President Bush's policy in Iraq "is not working" and called for urgent policies to shift the focus to training Iraqis troops and withdrawing most US combat troops by 2008.

Meanwhile, gunmen attacked two Shi'ite homes in western Baghdad, killing nine men and seriously wounding another, police said yesterday.

Nobody claimed responsibility for the attack, which police said occurred late Saturday in the mostly Sunni Arab Jihad neighborhood, but it apparently was in retaliation for a bold assault earlier in the day against Sunnis.

Witnesses said Shi'ite militiamen entered a Sunni enclave in Hurriyah, a predominantly Shi'ite neighborhood, after Sunnis warned the few Shi'ites living there to leave or be killed.

Heavy machine gunfire was heard Saturday, and three columns of black smoke rose into the sky, the witnesses said .

Ellie